


The Best Of Intentions

by Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Advice, Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Gen, Missing Scene, Spoilers for episode 66
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:34:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending
Summary: “Something weighing on you?”Caduceus’s voice was a quiet rumble of a whisper, and it made Jester want to lay her head on his chest and let the vibrations soothe her, like when Frumpkin sat in her lap and purred.---------A conversation that could have taken place the day after Jester took Nott's flask.





	The Best Of Intentions

Jester walked down the stone tunnels, adjusting her haversack for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning, frowning as it seemingly refused to lay comfortably across her shoulders. It had started being a problem ever since they had left the tunnel they had taken refuge in when hiding from the roc, since she had stolen Nott’s flask and placed it in her bag. Ever since then the haversack had seemed heavier, as if reminding Jester of what she had done, as if Jester needed reminding. Her stomach had been in knots all day, and her heart had raced when Nott had realized that her flask was gone. It wasn’t like when Jester was pulling a prank, there wasn’t the thrill of getting away with something, Nott’s anguish only made Jester feel worse, but what else could Jester do? Nott’s drinking was a _problem_ , and Jester didn’t know how else to fix it.

“Something weighing on you?” Caduceus’s voice was a quiet rumble of a whisper, and it made Jester want to lay her head on his chest and let the vibrations soothe her, like when Frumpkin sat in her lap and purred.

Jester looked at Nott, who was walking ahead with Caleb and Fjord, and then looked back at Caduceus. Did he know what Jester had done? Caduceus was very perceptive, though sometimes he’d get distracted by interesting moss or a new type of mushroom. It was possible Caduceus hadn’t seen her take the flask, but he might have. He’d probably understand though, right?

“I took Nott’s flask,” Jester whispered back. “I thought—I thought it would help, you know? That it’d be like before, when we were saving Yeza and she stopped drinking. She had been doing so good!” Jester thought back to the last week or two, back when they had been fixing up the house. Nott had seemed happy then. Okay, maybe a little anxious when they had been talking about Luc and how they were going to reunite him with everyone, but basically happy. But she had started drinking again anyway. “I thought if I took the flask away, she’d—I don’t know, remember that she’d been fine before without it. But instead she’s just angry.” Her hands twisted in the straps of her haversack.

Caduceus hummed thoughtfully. “Well that’s understandable, if you think about it. Last time it was her choice to stop, wasn’t it? It was something she decided she wanted to do for herself. But this time she didn’t have a choice. Choosing to do something for your own good and being _forced_ to do something for your own good are two different things. No one ever wants to be forced to do something, even if that something might be better for that person in the long run.”

“I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Jester said. “I just, I _want_ her to want to stop.”

“You’re not the only person here who wants that,” Caduceus said with a sigh, his ears going flat for a moment. “Believe me. Things seemed a little less chaotic for a while there. It was nice.”

“So I should give back the flask.” Jester watched as Nott crept up to a stone obelisk and called everyone over because she had found some weird writing. “Maybe I can sneak it back into her pack when she isn’t looking.”

“You could,” Caduceus said. “Or you could just give it back to her, and explain to her why you took it, and that you’re worried about her.”

“But then she won’t like me anymore!” Jester’s eyes burned, and she wiped at them furiously with the heel of her hand. She remembered back when she had thought Caleb hadn’t liked her after they had argued about money, when she had thought the Traveler hadn’t liked her anymore when he hadn’t saved her from the Iron Shepherds, when Fjord had left her alone with the dragon. The thought of not being liked by her friends was terrible, and the thought of _Nott_ not liking her made her stomach twist even more. “She already yelled at Yasha and Fjord and they didn’t even take her flask.”

Caduceus reached out and drew Jester close with one large hand. Even with the armor, a hug from Caduceus made Jester feel safe and warm. “Nott might yell at you too,” Caduceus agreed, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting way. “And she might not want to listen to what you have to say, but you’ll have said it. And maybe that will encourage the others to try speaking up again. And perhaps, somewhere down the road, Nott will remember what everyone said, and that will help her make some better decisions.”

Jester sighed as she watched Nott and Frumpkin disappear a little further down the tunnel as Caleb stared after them in the way that meant he was using Frumpkin’s eyes to see though. “I just wish there was something we could do to fix it _now._ ”

Caduceus chuckled, not unkindly. “We have that in common. We see something wrong, we want to fix it. The Wildmother told me a problem was too big to fix recently and I didn’t like that at _all._ I have a feeling this problem is bigger than we think, and it might take longer than either of us would like, but it _can_ be fixed.”

“What do you mean bigger than—“ Jester started to say, but then noticed that Caleb was flapping his hands like he did sometimes when he was excited or stressed about something. “Caleb? What’s wrong?”

Caleb didn’t respond right away, and Jester remembered that Caleb couldn’t actually hear anything when he was in Frumpkin. She was about to walk over and put a hand on his shoulder when he began to speak very quickly.

“The chamber doors have angels on them and the angels are weeping blood and Nott put Frumpkin down and has turned invisible and has gone inside the chamber.”

“But she’s not even drunk!” Jester cried out, dismayed. Caduceus was right after all, the problem was just bigger than Nott’s drinking. She headed into the chamber with the others, hoping that Nott would still be alive to have a conversation with later.

**Author's Note:**

> When I watched the episode live, I totally missed when Jester stole Nott's flask, so for a little while I wondered if Caduceus had taken it, until I realized that that wasn't really Caduceus's style, that he'd be a little more up front about things. I'm terribly excited to see what happens next in the show concerning this! Will Jester tell Nott what she did before Nott finds out on her own? Will the cast manage to stage a successful intervention at some point after weeping blood angel statue funtimes? Just how hard will Sam and Laura make us cry? Who knows!
> 
> I'm angel_in_ink on Twitter and angel-ascending on Tumblr if y'all want to stop by and say hi!


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